Molina Discusses Stoppage of Bey, Praises Mayweather

By Luis Sandoval

John Molina scored a literal last minute victory over previously undefeated Mickey Bey in a fight Molina was on his way to losing. Down on all three scorecards, Molina dug deep and was able to catch Bey with a solid left hook and finish him off just moments later in the final stanza of their bout.

The 10th and final round saw Bey still fight aggressively as he landed hard shots to the body and seemed to have hurt Molina. Molina acknowledged Bey got him with good shots throughout the contest but he also wanted to lure him into a fire fight that would eventually pay off.

“He hit me with a good shot to my left side. Not enough to stop me but I knew going into that last round I had to let him gain a little confidence. It’s a veteran move. We had to let him get a little cocky coming in so he could let his hands go. And as you saw in the later rounds, he started challenging me more on the inside and that was his demise” said Molina in his locker room after the fight.

Molina’s career was essentially on the line as he had lost 2 of his last 3 fights and this was a must win situation. It was movie type ending for Molina who redeemed himself from a lackluster performance just 6 weeks prior when he lost to undefeated Andrey Klimov.

Molina gave his opponent credit and also gave praise to fighter/promoter Floyd Mayweather who was in attendance to watch his stable of fighters perform.

“[Bey] had a lot of heart. Having the crowd behind [him] is like having an extra heart in your back pocket. We’re in his hometown and he didn’t want to go down in front of everybody; especially his big brother as he calls him [Floyd] Mayweather. And even Mayweather came up and showed me nothing but respect and said ‘hell of a fight’. I got to take my hat off to Floyd Mayweather, he came up to me directly with no hard feelings and said ‘you’re a hell of a fighter, warrior. You got a great heart and great fight’. That means a lot to me because I’m a big fan of Floyd’s” said Molina.

Molina’s win was even sweeter considering he had returned back with former trainer Joe Goosen as the pair added another memorable victory to their working history. It was confirmed there is no rematch clause so Molina is free to move forward and look for bigger opportunities. He said he is open to fight anyone at 135 and 140 and leaves that up to his promoter and his team to decide.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to BoxingScene Radio, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.